People are being plagued by an ad for a sexy butt-flap onesie from unknown fast-fashion brand IVRose following them around the internet —Experts say that the ad feels like it is everywhere because of a mix of brand safety miscalculations, re-targeting marketing strategies, and the fact that the strange and sexual ad sticks with viewers.
One of the top queries: Why they hell was everyone reading the article being bombarded with ads for bottomless pajamas? "It may just be a happy accident for them, or it may be part of some sort of a strategy — one doesn't know," Greg Sterling, the vice president of Insights at online marketing company Uberall, said. "But, it's pretty hard to engineer a viral ad." How did this ad takeover Elle's bombshell Shkreli story?The first thing I tried to figure out was how this ad ended up in the middle of the Elle article in the first place.
Greg March, the CEO of the media agency Noble People, said that the Elle article was emblematic of the way online media companies sell ads. Bigger stories create more ad units to sell, with media companies quickly running out of premium buyers for news — leaving just the programmatic low bidders. The vast number of people seeing the ad makes it seem as if there is no targeting in place. However, Dr. Krzysztof Franaszek, founder of ad tracking and targeting company Adalytics, said that is not actually the case.
The butt cheek peeking out of the PJs grabs people's attention. And, with people on Twitter discussing the ad, it is more likely to register the next time you see it. Remarketing, also called retargeting, is a popular strategy in online advertising that shows you the same item over and over again, or repeatedly shows you items related to past online behavior. It can be incredibly effective, or incredibly annoying, depending on if you want to actually buy the item.
According to Saunders, IVRose is likely one of many brands that are backed by a Chinese manufacturer, aiming to cash in on selling directly to consumers.